Download Xcode 6, Take Swift for a Spin

Create your next app using Apple’s new programming language

Apple this week introduced a new programming language called Swift. It basically replaces C and Objective-C, paving the way for a more relaxed development process. Featuring a new Playgrounds feature, Swift enables coders to execute commands in real time inside their app as they lay down the code.

To actually use Swift, however, you need to be inside the Apple ecosystem. That includes a Mac running OS X 10.9.4 Pre-release or OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) Beta and Xcode 6 Beta.

Starting this week, all registered Apple developers can download these assets and create their first app in Swift. The Swift iBook is free at the iBooks Store and Apple’s site is chock-full of guides on how to get started with the language.

According to its creators, “Swift is a new object-oriented programming language for iOS and OS X development. Swift is modern, powerful, expressive, and easy to use.”

Describing the new Playgrounds feature, Apple says this is “an interactive development environment allowing you to experiment with Swift for prototyping, testing ideas, and so forth.” Developers can employ Playgrounds to design algorithms, experiment with new APIs, try out the new Swift syntax, create new tests, etc.

To grab Xcode 6, all you need to do is make sure you have the aforementioned system requirements and a developer membership with Apple.